A good Solution Guide states the solution's purpose, describes each table, and names the views the team uses. Images, videos, checklists and record links make it easier to follow.
Here is the test: could a new member do their first task from the guide alone? If not, add the missing table, view or step.
Example: a risk team writes the guide for its Enterprise Risk Management solution. It follows the four parts below, then adds a short video on scoring a new risk.
Plan Availability | All plan types. |
Permissions | Administrators and Solution Managers write and edit a guide. Every member with access to the solution reads it. |
Platform | Web |
Related Reading |
What are the parts of a guide?
Purpose. One or two sentences on what the solution is for. For the risk team: "Track every enterprise risk from identification to acceptance."
Tables. One line per table on what it holds and how it links. Risk Register holds one record per risk, linked to its risk domain. Risk Domains holds the owners and appetite. KRIs holds the indicators for each domain.
Views. The views the team uses, by table, such as the Risk Register's All Risks grid.
Media and links. Images, videos, @mentions, checklists and links to records in the solution.
Tip: Link a real record in the guide, such as a well-written sample risk. A reader learns more from one good record than from a paragraph.
Example 1: Sales CRM template
Purpose: give the sales team a view of every stage of the pipeline, from opportunities to accounts and contacts.
Sales Stages: the phases of the pipeline. The template uses four stages, New, Discovery, Scoping and Closed (Won or Lost), which you can rename or extend.
Accounts: organizations, linked to Opportunities and Contacts. The template tracks Prospects and Customers, and you can add other types.
Contacts: the people, linked to Opportunities as Primary Contacts and Key Stakeholders.
Views: the Opportunities table's Sales Pipeline Kanban and All Sales by Stage, and the Accounts table's Account Summary grid. The guide also holds a video on creating a new Opportunity.
Example 2: Product Management template
Purpose: manage the front door of feature work for agile software teams: documentation, requirements and release planning.
Features: features at a high level, with market research and a Priority Score field that ranks them.
Epics: large bodies of work, linked to their User Stories.
User Stories: the smallest unit of work, written from the user's point of view.
Requirements: the detail behind a story, with documents and designs attached.
Sprints: records that set the order of development.
Views: All Features by Priority Score, Active Stories by Sprint, and the Sprint Timeline. The guide @mentions the owners, adds captioned files and a checklist of workflow steps, and links to records.
Example 3: Marketing template
Purpose: plan and run campaigns across channels, for marketing teams and agencies.
Campaigns: goals, budgets, timelines, messaging, KPIs and results. Every other table links here.
Designs & Content: the assets for each campaign, with owners and an approval flow.
Brand Assets: existing assets attached to campaigns, so nothing is made twice.
People & Personas: target personas, and the people cleared to appear in campaigns.
Views: Projects by Status, Designs & Content by Campaign, and the Persona Summary cards. The guide includes training videos for new team members.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find these guides?
Where do I find these guides?
Every template in the Solution Library includes a sample Solution Guide. Install a template, then open its guide from the solution menu. See Solution Templates.
Can a guide hold videos and checklists?
Can a guide hold videos and checklists?
Yes. A guide is a SmartDoc, so it holds images, videos, @mentions, checklists, tables and record links.
How long should a guide be?
How long should a guide be?
Long enough for a first task. Start with the purpose, the tables and the views, then add steps where people get stuck.
Who can change a guide?
Who can change a guide?
Administrators and Solution Managers of the solution. See Solution Guides.
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Last verified 1 Nov 2026.